@article{Wallace:253724,
      recid = {253724},
      author = {Wallace, Malcolm and Seepersad, Govind},
      title = {A SOCIOECONOMIC ASSESSMENT AND RISK PERCEPTION OF  STAKEHOLDERS ON THE IMPACT OF THE CITRUS GREENING DISEASE /  HUANGLONGBING (HLB) IN BELIZE},
      address = {2012},
      number = {536-2016-38552},
      pages = {12},
      year = {2012},
      abstract = {Citrus Greening Disease is a deadly bacterial disease that  affects all citrus varieties.
It is rated by most national  and international research institutions as the most  destructive disease
in citrus and to date has led to  drastic reductions in production in Asia and Africa and now  threatens
citrus industries in the western hemisphere.  Citrus Greening has been known internationally from
its  first description in China, as Huanglongbing (HLB),  translated as "yellow shoot disease". The
disease was  confirmed in the Americas in Brazil in 2004. Since then,  its presence has been verified
in several other major  citrus producing countries including: Florida / United  States (2005), Cuba
(2007), Mexico, Jamaica and Belize  (2009). The economic cost implications of HLB have  been
estimated to far exceed other citrus diseases that  have affected the industry in previous years. This
study  focused on two aspects of the Belize citrus industry: (i)  the socioeconomic impact of the
disease and (ii) the  producers' response to the disease. The convenient sampling  technique was
used to enumerate stakeholders across the  value chain to ascertain their experiences with the
impact  of the disease on the industry up to December 2011. The  risk attitude and risk perception
of primary (fruit)  producers in the industry was evaluated by using a  psychometric test. The results
of the study found that the  demise of the citrus industry would have negative  socioeconomic impact
on Belize specifically, citrus  producers, agriculture workers, rural citrus producing  communities
and stakeholders within the citrus industry  value chain. Analysis of the logistic regression focused
on  the significance of three variables: risk attitude (ra),  risk perception (rp), and a combination of
the two (risk  attitude and risk perception) (rarp) on the behavioural  outcome of farmers (whether
to remain or exit the citrus  industry). The results indicated that the variable (φ)  (farmers risk
perception) has a p-value of 0.030. Farmers  risk perception was the only variable with a p-value
below  the chosen level of significance (0.05). Hence, only risk  perception influenced the
behavioural outcome.
Despite this  threat, an estimated 76% of the farmers were willing to  remain in the citrus industry
and deal with the challenges  presented by HLB. The results also show that 49% of the  farmers
enumerated were risk-seeking and 66% had employed  some form of management for the disease.
Overall, HLB was  perceived by primary stakeholders as the disease which  poses the greatest risk
to the citrus industry of Belize.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/253724},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.253724},
}